Although this was only the Texas Book Festival’s 30th anniversary, its subject matter ranged from the 1800s territory to the state of the future. 

Taking place in the fall of every year, the event is a chance for Texas authors to reach new audiences in downtown Austin, where thousands of guests gather at and around the Capitol. This year, panels with Texas authors addressed the state’s past and its meaning. Benjamin Heber Johnson, author of “Texas: An American History,” discussed how the image of Texans as frontiersmen cowboys persists to the current day in his session.

“There are indigenous people, and there are the relatively recently arrived Comanche, Spanish, Mexicans, Anglo Texans, fanatical baptists, fanatical atheists, gay rights advocates,” Johnson said. “That’s part of what makes this place work: welcoming people who find that putting on the boots and hat, or whatever else they need to do to play Texan, works for them.”

What Johnson sees is that a popular concept of Texas as a free land, open to individualism, continues to attract newcomers who must decide how state pride they wish to express. Henry Cisneros, former Mayor of San Antonio and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Development, addressed that issue at the festival with his new book, “Megaregion.” 

“How we address the challenges creates the difference between whether this is positive quality of life, or whether this is erratic and haphazard growth,” Cisneros said. “It stems from my original belief when I was mayor of San Antonio back in the 1980s that Austin and San Antonio had to work together in this common ground of Central Texas that we share.”

Cisneros touts cities like Georgetown and Round Rock — the fastest growing in the country — as evidence that the demographic shift will balloon the region’s population to 8.3 million by 2050. He intended “Megaregion,”  to lay out policy that will allow the twin cities to cooperate as they face unprecedented opportunities and challenges.

“The Hill Country gets more complex because of the caverns and the limestone, and the springs and the creeks, so most of the growth, I think, is gonna go east of I-35,” Cisneros said. “It’s really incomprehensible to imagine that speed of growth and that scale of growth in such a short span of time. Why is it? Because we have a favorable business climate in the state, we have a low tax rate for the state, because we have abundant land to build on, because we have prices that are generally better than other places in the country. We have a population that’s young and workforce oriented. We have a history that makes it an attractive area historically.”

Austinite Chris Giles has been attending the Texas Book Festival for more than 10 years. She enjoys sessions like Johnson’s and Cisneros’ because they bring new perspective to topics she’s familiar with.

“I think that they’re really good about bringing a variety of people who talk on a lot of different issues, healthcare, social things,” Giles said. “And they cover them both in nonfiction and in fiction, which is lovely because you can get quite a variety of perspectives.”

Authors have to apply before appearing at the Texas Book Festival, which includes book signings and sales, but not direct payment. The goal of many authors is to share more about their strongly held beliefs and knowledge, according to Cisneros. 

“It’s not about selling books,” Cisneros said. “The point is to get out an urgent message about a region that I care about, that I think is right now shaping its future, and a region that will either be a wonderful place to live and proud of its identity, or just another congested sprawl mass that once had its best day.”